If anyone hasn’t seen or used The Academy Pro, then you’re missing out on an incredibly valuable resource. Peter Giannoulis and friends have put together 400+ videos on setting up and using optimally all our *favorite* security technologies. Need to set up IronPort? They have a video. GFI Languard? They have a video, too. Need pentest tool tips? They have over 70 different VA/Pentest video tutorials. Heck, they have our Security Aegis videos.

Last month, Peter started the buzz on a new training class he will be offering. It’s called eLearnSecurity. So far we know it has about 2000 slides of theory and practical application, plus 5 hours of unreleased video. The class promises to be affordable and have some awesome labs.

JH: So Peter, let’s do the intro thing… who are you and where did you come from? Where are you now and what gets you excited in the security field?

Peter: I’m just another security professional really. I’ve been in the industry as a consultant for over a decade and a couple of years ago I thought it would be a good idea to launch a website full of videos on how to configure, implement and troubleshoot security technologies and offer them to the community for free. The website became The Academy Pro -http://www.theacademypro.com/. The Academy Pro has been growing at such an alarming rate that we decided to start-up a security consulting firm as well. And so, Source 44 Consulting was born and things are going great.

We’re also right in the middle of launching the new Academy Pro website. It should see the light of day in October 2009 and includes some fantastic new features such as Twitter integration, chat and much more.

JH: eLearnSecurity… We like the logo, we like the fact that its made by you, we like stellar training at affordable prices but… what IS it really?

Peter: elearnSecurity is a start-up whose purpose is to provide superior online security training through the utilization of great content at an affordable price.

We believe that mastering tools or simply compiling exploits are not the only skills involved in becoming a security professional. We also wanted to make our courses affordable to all individuals, including those from lesser developed countries.

JH: We see it’s security based, but we also see mention of pentest goodness, what’s it’s focus?

Peter: The first launch of eLearnSecurity is a comprehensive course in penetration testing. It involves web application testing, network security testing, and last but not least, system security.

This course will cover everything from the basics to advanced techniques available today. No matter how proficient you are with various penetration tools, you’ll typically not find success without following a rigorous methodology.

JH: Is it purely training or is it a certification based course?

Peter: Certification will not be available at the start. However, since we strongly believe that certification not only provides a means by which knowledge of security can be validated, it’s also a trend that we don’t see being phased out at any point in the near or distant future. Therefore, we’ll be looking to establish partnerships with official certification authorities in the
near future as part of our corporate expansion of services.

JH: Who are our mystery co-authors? Anyone we know?

Peter: There are 4 authors working on the Ethical hacking course. They’re all experts in penetration testing, either as professionals or in the research field. Two of them have hit recent headlines for the exploitation of Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Names will be released soon.

JH: When is it slated to be out?

Peter: There’s not a release date as of now but it is scheduled to be available within October-November 2009. A website with more details will be released very soon.

We will also give discount coupons to the first 100 Security Aegis and EH-Net readers.

Jason Haddix is a Junior Penetration Tester at Redspin, Inc. and Security Blogger at http://www.securityaegis.com. Jason has been working in information technology in one fashion or another for many years doing everything from admin work, component bench technician, and identity theft researcher. Jason is an auto-didactic polymath (constantly learning about everything he can) and has been reading, mapping, and planning out his future in IT security. Jason loves everything to do with (E)hacking, Social Engineering, the con community, et cetera. Jason’s current projects include numerous reviews of current pentesting and incident handling teaching curriculum as well as being a main contributor to PentesterScripting.com and Ethicalhacker.net.